Lothian has today (Thursday 14 November) announced its Christmas network plans, giving customers more time to plan their festive trips and nights out, including new Christmas services for West Lothian.

On Christmas Day, Lothian services 3, 7, 8, 16, 22, 26, 30, 34, 37, 44 and 100 will operate, providing customers with vital links across the city including to the Royal Infirmary and the Western General Hospital.

In West Lothian, Lothiancountry will be operating seven services on Christmas Day. Special timetables will operate on services 217, 280, 287, X18, X27/X28 and X38.

In East Lothian, EastCoastbuses services 106, 113 and 124 will be running on Christmas Day providing vital links across the local community.

On Boxing Day, increased early morning services will give shoppers more time to hit the high street sales with routes serving key retail destinations such as Fort Kinnaird, The Gyle Shopping Centre, Ocean Terminal, Straiton Retail Park and Cameron Toll Shopping Centre.

On New Year’s Day, many key services will be available across Edinburgh and the Lothian’s offering connections to key parts of the city. Lothiancountry will also operate with an increased frequency on service 43, running every 10 to 15 minutes to Queensferry for the ‘Loony Dook.’

Airlink and Skylink services will provide connections to Edinburgh Airport across the festive period including Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Airlink will also run every 30 minutes on Christmas Day.

Nigel Serafini, Commercial Director for Lothian said: “We are delighted that once again we can offer a widespread comprehensive network across all our brands, with increased services in and around Edinburgh across the festive period.

“Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our teams across our business we are able to deliver an excellent customer service for the thousands of residents and visitors who rely on us during a particularly busy time for the city.”

Timetables will be available to download from www.lothianbuses.co.uk from Monday 25th November and paper timetables will be available from Travelhub’s at Shandwick Place and Waverley Bridge.

Information on services for Hogmanay will follow next week.